Over the hills

We hadn’t managed the proposed early start on Friday, but that did give the weather chance to brighten before we left for the workshop. It also meant that the skies were clear and the horizons wide as I drove one of my favourite roads, at least part of the way. As we reached the summit, the road was swallowed by clouds; Snake Pass winds its way through the hills from Yorkshire to Lancashire and the weather here is always an intimate experience. Though only a few miles long, this stretch of road can occupy me for hours when I have time to stop. Friday, though, we had places to be.

Leaving the motorway around Manchester at the earliest opportunity, having already braved more than enough traffic on the long hill outside Glossop, we breathed a sigh of relief and headed through Bolton and out again into the West Pennines where…